1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of splicing a magnetic recording tape and a leader tape, and more particularly to a method of splicing a magnetic recording tape and a leader tape in which ends of the tapes are butted against each other and a splicing tape is applied to the opposed end portions of the tapes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In magnetic recording tape products such as compact cassettes, video cassettes and the like, leader tapes are generally spliced to opposite ends of a magnetic recording tape and the leader tapes are fixed to a pair of reels. In the typical method of splicing the magnetic recording tape and the leader tape, ends of the magnetic recording tape and the leader tape are butted against each other and a splicing tape is applied to the opposed end portions of the tapes. The space between the ends of the spliced tapes is strictly normalized to be from 0 to 70 .mu.m, for instance.
Conventionally, there have been used for splicing the magnetic recording tape and the leader tape a feed table and a receiving table which have top surfaces flush with each other and are positioned spaced from each other by a very small distance. A magnetic recording tape is fed along the top surface of the feed table toward the receiving table to extend over the top surface of the receiving table across the space between the tables, and is fixed to the top surfaces of the tables. A cutting edge is inserted into the space between the tables to cut the end portion extending over the receiving table off from the recording tape. Further a leader tape is fed along the top surface of the feed table toward the receiving table to extend over the top surface of the receiving table across the space between the tables by a predetermined length, and is fixed to the top surfaces of the tables. Then the cutting edge is inserted into the space between the tables to sever a leader tape piece of a predetermined length from the leader tape. One of the feed table and the receiving table is moved with respect to the other in the lateral direction of the tapes so that the leader tape piece held on the receiving table is aligned with the part of the recording tape held on the feed table. Thereafter a splicing tape piece is applied to the opposed end portions of the recording tape and the leader tape piece. This method is advantageous in that the opposed ends of the tapes conform to each other since they are respectively the cut ends on opposite sides of a cutting edge. However, there has been a problem that the space between the opposed ends of the tapes cannot be precisely controlled.
FIGS. 1 and 2 are schematic views for illustrating the drawbacks of the conventional method of splicing the recording tape and the leader tape. In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes the recording tape or the leader tape, and the feed table and the receiving table are respectively indicated at 2 and 3. The tape 1 is fixed to the top surfaces of the tables 2 and 3, before being cut by a cutter 5, by suction force applied to a plurality of suction holes 4 which are formed in the tables 2 and 3 and are connected to a vacuum source such as a vacuum pump. Since the suction force applied to the suction holes must be limited in order to prevent damage to the tape 1, the tape 1 cannot be perfectly held in place against the force applied thereto by the cutter 5. That is, when the width L of the space between the opposed ends 2b and 3b of the tables 2 and 3 is large, cut ends of the tape 1 are apt to be drawn into the space by the cutter 5 as shown in FIG. 1. On the other hand, when the width L of the space is small, the cut ends of the tape 1 are apt to be pushed away from each other by the cutter 5 as shown in FIG. 2. When the cut ends of the tape 1 are drawn into the space, the opposed ends of the recording tape and the leader tape piece will be superposed one on another when the recording tape and the leader tape piece are aligned with each other, while when the cut ends of the tape 1 are pushed away from each other, the opposed ends of the recording tape and the leader tape piece will be spaced by an undesirably large distance when the recording tape and the leader tape piece are aligned each other.
In another splicing method, the recording tape and the leader tape are aligned with each other and fed in opposite directions respectively along the top surfaces of the tables so that their end portions are superposed one on the other and the superposed portion is cut by the cutter. After the respective cut end portions are removed, a splicing tape is applied to the opposed end portions of the tapes. Also in this method, the opposed end portions of the tapes to be spliced are apt to be drawn into the space between the feed table and the receiving table.